Tag Archives: Whole

It took less than a second, but it changed the way I thought about myself for years. She chanted, “Tuna Breath” as I sat quietly by myself eating the tuna sandwich my mother made for me. I was an impressionable preteen, and the new kid at school. The same girl thought it amusing to call me “Ms. Dainty”. Being petite and girlie, I was picked last for any sports teams during recess. Any healthy self-image I had was beginning to spiral down the drain.

Whoever coined the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me” was lying. Names hurt. Words convey images to our mind. For instance; when I say chair, you form a picture in your head. Words spoken over us have the ability to bring life or death (Prov. 18:21). Names spoken over me sent a message that said, “I’m not good enough, I’m unworthy, I’m a mistake, something is wrong with me, I can’t do anything right, and I don’t fit in.”

I recently heard Beth Helton speak at a seminar about discovering our identity in Christ. Enthusiastically, she told us she asked the Lord to give her something really cool to share with us. To her surprise she heard, “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the Kings horses and all the King’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.” She chuckled at the childishness of it but knew there was a deep truth to it.

Names can shatter us into little pieces. Only the King, Jesus, can put us back together again. He takes all our broken pieces and make us whole again. He did it for me, and he will do it for you; you need only come. Enter his presence in stillness and listen. Is Jesus giving you a new name?

The words Jesus speaks over you heal like a liquid band aid. His words are life and they erase the lies. I felt as though I was living inside a Thomas Kinkaid painting when Jesus showed up and turned my world upside-down. He said something I will never forget, “My darling you are beautiful. I see no flaw in you. I want you to stop beating yourself up. You must learn to love yourself as I love you.” In a separate encounter but just as beautiful, I heard God whisper, “I named and made everything in this world: including you and proclaimed it all good.”

Vision. Corporations, schools, individuals, churches and other non-profit organizations all imagine a preferred future. They want to have a goal. Are they making progress? And perhaps, most importantly, is their vision what God intends for them? Are they even asking him?

Recently, a string of revelation flooded my heart and mind as I intently listened to my pastor speak about where our church was headed. My eyes were repetitively drawn to the light-blue block letters that spelled out vision on our beautifully decorated altar. Then I heard a gentle voice whisper “take the ‘I’ out of vision”.

The word “son” popped into the forefront as the remaining letters faded into the background. But God was not done speaking. He wanted me to divide the word and look at the remaining letters. The Roman numeral seven now preceded the word “son”. In the Bible, the number seven speaks of God’s perfect will: completion and rest. On the seventh day, God completed creation and rested (Gen 2:1-3).

God’s preferred future for us is that we are made complete in Christ Jesus (Col 2:10 NASB). When we learn to rest in him, he makes us whole.
How often do we put the ‘I’ back into vision? Instead of seeking God’s heart and mind about our future, we adopt our own ideas or those of well-meaning people around us. After all, everybody has a great plan. But is it God’s plan for you?

Proverbs 29:18 says “Without vision the people perish… (KJV).” The word vision here comes from the Hebrew word chazon. It means prophetic vision or revelation and denotes God’s will. You see, clarity of vision comes from seeking God’s heart and mind through prayer. Simply put, it comes from hearing his voice. Learn to be a listener.

One way to think about gaining clarity of vision can be illustrated in our modern world of technology. We tend to heavily rely on our portable devices for information. We feel lost without them. If we don’t sync them regularly with our home computer that acts as a central hub, we risk the chance of losing important information. All it takes is one malfunction.

God is our hub, and we can be seen as his portable devices. If we do not regularly take time to sync with him, we risk losing important information he has to show or tell us regarding his preferred future for us.

This is what the Lord says in Jeremiah 33:3 (GW): “Call to me, and I will answer you. I will tell you great and mysterious things that you do not know.”

If our vision isn’t in sync with God’s vision, is it really worth pursuing?

Like this:

He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrow that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sin! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed (Isaiah 53:3-5 NLT).

In Stormie Omartins’ book, Lord I want to be whole, she says “the love of God is not just a feeling; it’s God’s Spirit. Because He is love, just spending time in His presence in prayer and praise causes His love to permeate your being.” I have found this to be very true. It was the fall of 2007, during one of these awesome and wonderful encounters with Him when I first heard his quiet still small voice whisper to me “Get rid of your shame! It is not yours, I took it. Let go of it.” In January of 2008, I attended a prayer retreat sponsored by my church. We were asked to take some time alone to spend in prayer and this is when I heard the same words for the second time. I was not entirely sure what the Lord meant but he had my attention and I was going to find out.

The following year, the Lord revealed to me this shame had to do with misguided feelings of unworthiness. For years I had been defining myself by my weaknesses and living with a sin consciousness rather than a righteousness consciousness. Over the course of several weeks, as I spent time in prayer and self-introspection, God unraveled a string of revelations to me. During worship one Sunday, I heard once again His still small voice. This time I heard “It is time you start identifying yourself with me. Renounce the shame every time it comes against you. Remember it is not yours. You can walk in full assurance of who you are in me. You are not the same, you are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). Keep receiving.”

As I continued to inquire of the Lord, He answered. He spoke to me about receiving by faith (Rom 10:17) and redefined the word, perfection (1 Sam 16:7). Pastor Bill Johnson says that we live as forgiven people by grace but with Old Testament mindsets that work to get performance out of others. But in the Kingdom, we start accepted. Jesus is where our identity comes from and out of that comes our performance. He goes on to say, “The performance focused lifestyle is over. Nobody wants to make a mistake because they think God requires perfection.”

God wants our hearts. He sees our heart. And He wants you to see yourself as he sees you. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and invited Him into your heart then God sees Jesus. When you look into the mirror what do you see? Do you see the old you or the new you? God sees only the new, not the old. He does not love you for anything you have done or will do. He loves you for what Jesus has done and is doing in you. He doesn’t love you for who you are. He loves you for who Jesus is in you!

Are you working to get an identity to be accepted? If so, stop working and rest. Everything you need, Jesus provided for at the cross. You need only to come. Come to Jesus. He endured your rejection so you could be accepted by the Father. Receive.

Now I understand what Jesus was saying to me when He told me three times to get rid of the shame I was carrying. I could not see myself washed by the blood of Jesus. I had the head knowledge of what God’s word said about me. But it had not yet penetrated my heart. He was saying He bore my shame so I could share in His glory, the recognition of belonging to Him.

Perhaps I didn’t fully believe in my own conversion. I believe it is only when your heart comes into agreement with what you believe in your head that understanding and authentic transformation take place. God says you are righteous in Him (2Cor 5:21). You are holy in Him (Eph 1:4). You are a child of a King and joint heirs with Him (Rom 8:17). Therefore, you can partake in His glory. There is nothing you lack because you are complete in Him (Col 2:10). You see, you are everything in Christ and nothing without Him. Does your heart agree with who God says you are? Look in the mirror again. Now say out loud, “I like you. You are a child of God. God loves you for who you are in Jesus and what you do in Jesus.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus, as I reflect on what you did for me, please shine your light into the darkness of my life. Expose any lies I believe about myself and reveal the truth to me as I spend time in your presence and your word. May truth penetrate my heart and my mind. Thank you for taking my punishment so I am forgiven. Thank you for taking my wounds so I am healed. Thank you for dying so I can receive Your life. Thank you for bearing my shame so I can share Your glory. Thank you for enduring my rejection so I can have Your acceptance with the Father. In Your name I pray.